Liverpool vs Chelsea: Dead on arrival Jorginho fears the press
Chelsea midfield fulcrum Jorginho has admitted that he fears the ferocious Liverpool press in the lead up to the two sides meeting this weekend.
The two sides meet at 4:30pm on Sunday and the Blues Italian star told The Athletic that he is scared to death about getting mixed up in the Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah firestorm.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp trains his side to lead from the front and Mane, Firmino and Salah are the main men when it comes to that. Jorginho can expect to see them hunting him down in unison, cutting off passing lanes, pressuring the ball, harrying, snapping.
And that could mean death for Chelsea and for their pass master.
“I’m dead. They’ll be on top of me,” Jorginho said when asked to imagine a situation where he’s only allowed to think one pass ahead, a situation where he can’t run through one, two, three phases ahead in his mind.
Chelsea signed the Brazilian born, Italian capped former Napoli man last season and he promptly played a key role as ex-gaffer Maurizio Sarri tried to implement his style.
And speaking about Liverpool, Jorginho was very complimentary about the power of Mane, Firmino and Salah.
“Knowing the quality of the press they have, I’m thinking one pass, two passes ahead,” he continued. Jorginho has to do that, because if he hesitates, he’s dead. If the ball is wrong, he’s dead. If the first touch is poor, he’s dead.
That’s how good Liverpool are and the Chelsea man knows this. “If I am uncertain for a split second once the ball has been played, that’s it,” he continued.
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Everyone knows that Klopp has his team playing ferocious football and if one of the top players in the league is worried about being dead on arrival because of the press, everyone else should be.